PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES WILMA A. LEWIS
AS UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

The President today announced his intent to nominate Wilma A. Lewis
to serve as United States Attorney for the District of Columbia.

Wilma A. Lewis, of the District of Columbia, is currently Inspector
General for the United States Department of the Interior, a position
she has held since April 1995. Ms. Lewis began her professional career
in 1981, with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Steptoe & Johnson. In
1986, she joined the United States Attorney's office for the District
of Columbia as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Civil
Division. During her seven-and-a-half years with that office, she
served as both assistant and deputy chief of the Civil Division, as
well as lead counsel for the federal government in a wide variety of
civil cases in trial and appellate courts. In 1993, Ms. Lewis joined
the Interior Department's Office of the Solicitor as Associate
Solicitor for the Division of General Law. She remained in that
position until her appointment as Inspector General.

Ms. Lewis has served on various boards and committees, including
the Civil Justice Reform Act Advisory Group and the Advisory Committee
on Local Rules for the United States District Court for the District of
Columbia. She has been a lecturer and instructor on employment
discrimination law, an adjunct faculty member of The George Washington
University National Law Center, and a faculty member of the College of
Trial Advocacy (sponsored by the Law Center and the District of
Columbia Bar Litigation Section). A native of St. Thomas, United
States Virgin Islands, Ms. Lewis earned a B.A. degree from Swarthmore
College, and a J.D. degree from Harvard Law School.

United States Attorneys are the chief federal prosecutors and law
enforcement officers for the 94 federal judicial districts. They have
principal responsibility for the prosecution of federal matters in
their district.